The present invention relates to low pressure side accumulators for refrigerant systems of the circulating type and particularly to drier/accumulators for such systems. In particular, the invention relates to such drier/accumulators utilized in automotive passenger compartment air conditioning systems where it is desired to accumulate and dry the saturated vapor refrigerant returning to the pump or compressor from the evaporator. Typically in an automotive air conditioning system the saturated vapor refrigerant returning to the compressor from the evaporator is at a pressure on the order of 20 PSIG (173 KPa).
In automotive air conditioning applications, it has been desired to reduce the cost of assembly of the system in mass production and to minimize the complexity of assembling the system conduits to the drier/accumulator during installation of the system into the vehicle on the assembly line. Heretofore, it has been the practice to weld attachment tubes to the header of the drier/accumulator with the ends of the tubes bent to facilitate attachment of external hoses thereto. However, the orientation of the ends of the bent tubes has proven to be difficult to predict for proper attachment of the hoses during installation into the vehicle. Therefore, it has been desired to provide a simple way of attaching the vehicle air conditioning system hoses to the drier/accumulator on the vehicle and to accommodate the need for varying the orientation of the bent tubes for attachment to the system connecting hoses.
It has thus been desired to provide a way or means of simplifying the construction, manufacturing cost and ease of installation of a drier/accumulator for a refrigerant system and particularly for an automotive air conditioning system.